Today was the 3rd day I worked with Louie on "Parkit". Yesterday, I just worked on getting him to move away from the tap of the whip. But, I did this from the ground beside him and a little bit from a mounting block. Then I laid over his back and asked him to stand still. He wasn't too sure about moving away from the whip. What he didn't quite get was moving away from the side I was tapping on. Just when I thought he had it and was moving away well, I started tapping him on the other side and he moved in the same direction, now into the whip. With just a little more work, he finally got the idea and was moving away from the tap on both sides.
Today, he was eagerly waiting to play. He is so funny when he feels he understands something new he's learned because he becomes an over achiever. This is when I have to slow things down to control his enthusiasm. I could not quite get him into position to pick me up along the fence today. He was moving over parallel to the fence with just a tiny touch of the whip but he was not walking up beside me but rather keeping me at the level of his head. So, I started working on a signal to get him to walk forward. For a few minutes he went into shut down mode as he absolutely could not understand what I was asking of him. So, again, slow down, break the request down, get his interest again and a little try at doing anything and.......wha-la, he walks forward a step. Praise and a treat and I could see the light bulb turn on in his mule brain. After a few more repeats of the request, he was starting to understand and was once again all excited. I didn't get him quit into a position I could mount from. And I really had to resist the urge to put a halter and lead rope on him. But, that was just my impatience and in the end would not teach him faster because as soon as he is restrained, he will not engage as eagerly and willingly. I was very pleased with our progress for today.
On another note, prior to our training session, he was a naughty mule. He and my mare Marie are together during the day. Today when we were out working on the barn, Marie laid down in the paddock. As soon as she went down, Louie got all excited and went right over and mounted her! While she was laying down! This surprised me as Marie is not in heat and I don't know why her laying down got him excited. Marie was having no part of this and jumped up and trotted off. I was standing along the fence and Louie turned, saw me and came at me with ears flat back with an aggressive posture. When he got to me he reached out at me with his face....... and his face was met with the palm of my hand good and hard on the side of his nose. That sure took him by surprise and cooled his jets. He has never done this before. And I'd better never see it again!
No comments:
Post a Comment